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Youth Services

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 June 2020

Tuesday, 30 June 2020

Questions (784)

Paul Donnelly

Question:

784. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if youth services have been advised that their budgets are to be reviewed and funds carried over due to programmes not running during lockdown are to be recouped by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13571/20]

View answer

Written answers

The Deputy will be aware of the extraordinary cost to the Exchequer of the current crisis and the need for careful management of resources to maintain public services and minimise the medium to long term impact of this pandemic on the economy and on society as a whole.

Therefore, while reiterating previous assurances around the intention to continue funding to the youth sector in line with 2020 allocations, my Department wrote recently to all funded youth organisations to request their Boards and management undertake a review of their funding requirement for 2020 to identify areas where the requirement may have reduced in light of the current ongoing circumstances.  In this communication it was indicated that there is no intention to apply general cuts to any youth services. The purpose of this financial review is to identify where legitimate savings are accruing due to shut downs or restrictions.

I am aware that similar reviews are being undertaken across the public service and that a number of youth organisations have already undertaken or commenced such reviews.

Specifically, my Department has asked that each youth organisation review its utilisation of State funding for 2020 to identify all instances where services are not being delivered for a period, or a reduced service is being delivered. In this context it is understood that many services are seeking to maintain full service delivery through alternate means and we have asked that this should be documented and detailed as part of this review. We are also aware that the phased resumption of full service provision may entail new costs associated with adhering to public health requirements and return to work protocols, and that these will need to be factored into any review of costs for the remainder of 2020.

In the event that any organisation considers that it has either not utilised its full allocation to date, or will require less funding for the coming period, then we are asking them to reduce Quarter 3 drawdown requests accordingly.

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